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rosebud5

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Anybody use Legal Zoom for a simple will? If so, what's your experience with it. Already have my investment/bank accounts in order with beneficiaries assigned. I only need the will for property. I go, everything to the wife. She goes first, everything to me. We both go at the same time, everything to our daughters. I was considering a living trust, but found out North Carolina caps probate costs at $6K. I could pay an attorney $600 for wills for both of us or pay about $140 through Legal Zoom. What say you?
 

vacationtime1

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Anybody use Legal Zoom for a simple will? If so, what's your experience with it. Already have my investment/bank accounts in order with beneficiaries assigned. I only need the will for property. I go, everything to the wife. She goes first, everything to me. We both go at the same time, everything to our daughters. I was considering a living trust, but found out North Carolina caps probate costs at $6K. I could pay an attorney $600 for wills for both of us or pay about $140 through Legal Zoom. What say you?

You haven't considered or don't understand the impact of the existing legal title to the property (assuming the property is real estate).

Unless and until you do, you should not DIY.
 

Passepartout

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It appears that you are willing to accept petty much what the state dictates when a resident dies intestate- that is: 'everything goes to the surviving spouse, then to the offspring'. But in most cases, a 'will package' produced by a trained legal practitioner will contain more. Like a 'Living Will'- what you desire to happen if you are disabled and can't make decisions for yourself- Who would you designate to make those decisions? Who would you have paying the bills and settling your affairs? A Durable Power of Attorney would cover that.

I think that using an 'internet lawyer' to produce legal documents makes just about as much sense as a Do-It-Yourself Root Canal.

And one more caution- should you decide to go the DIY route. Be sure to have your documents witnessed by uninterested parties and get them notarized.

I may be simply recalling what my wife- a 40+ year practicing family law and estate planning attorney has told me and others whenever this subject has come up.

Jim
 

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You haven't considered or don't understand the impact of the existing legal title to the property (assuming the property is real estate).

Unless and until you do, you should not DIY.

The title is in both our names. I'm not sure I understand your point. What impact?
 

rosebud5

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It appears that you are willing to accept petty much what the state dictates when a resident dies intestate- that is: 'everything goes to the surviving spouse, then to the offspring'. But in most cases, a 'will package' produced by a trained legal practitioner will contain more. Like a 'Living Will'- what you desire to happen if you are disabled and can't make decisions for yourself- Who would you designate to make those decisions? Who would you have paying the bills and settling your affairs? A Durable Power of Attorney would cover that.

I think that using an 'internet lawyer' to produce legal documents makes just about as much sense as a Do-It-Yourself Root Canal.

And one more caution- should you decide to go the DIY route. Be sure to have your documents witnessed by uninterested parties and get them notarized.

I may be simply recalling what my wife- a 40+ year practicing family law and estate planning attorney has told me and others whenever this subject has come up.

Jim
A living will would be a separate document. My question is about a last will and testament. Power of attorney would be separate.

I appreciate "opinions", but has anyone actually had a bad experience will these internet based services?
 

vacationtime1

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The title is in both our names. I'm not sure I understand your point. What impact?

There are many ways to hold title jointly. The fact that you haven't yet focused on the form of title is exactly why you need competent help.
 

easyrider

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Anybody use Legal Zoom for a simple will? If so, what's your experience with it. Already have my investment/bank accounts in order with beneficiaries assigned. I only need the will for property. I go, everything to the wife. She goes first, everything to me. We both go at the same time, everything to our daughters. I was considering a living trust, but found out North Carolina caps probate costs at $6K. I could pay an attorney $600 for wills for both of us or pay about $140 through Legal Zoom. What say you?

Our first Wills were completed by our attorney in the early 80's. Never gave them a thought until about 2013. I used Legal Zoom, our old Wills as a footprint to create a new Will. After we were satisfied with the Wills we took them to our attorney to be corrected and critiqued. There was a few issues and corrections but for the most part the Wills were not too bad using the Legal Zoom template.

I say use both. That way you know what is in the Will actually addresses your concerns.

Bill
 

isisdave

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With LegalZoom you can get one of their lawyers to review it for an extra fee.

Sam's Club has a discount on LegalZoom.

Rosebud5, I'll bet jointly held title in NC doesn't work the way you think. In many states, if it's "John Smith and Judy Smith", each owns an undivided 1/2 interest. If John dies without a will, HIS HALF is distributed according to law. Usually that will include a portion for any children, which could force liquidation of the property. I think it doesn't apply to you, but children from a former marriage can really complicate things. So get a lawyer on board for at least the first will.
 

Grammarhero

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Before I became a lawyer, I was a law clerk preparing wills. 90 percent of the time, the legal zoom or DIY wills are fine. 90 percent of the time, parents pass of old age and the families support the parents. Besides, legal zoom isn’t even that great. It’s just a glorified version of the DIY will books you can find at the library

10 percent of the time, DIY or legal zoom wills are not fine, especially for difficult passings. In one example, your daughters disagree about whether to pull the plug. In their grief, your daughters might be nasty to each other.

In another example, one daughter seemingly abandoned the parents right when they pass (as her way of grieving), and the other daughter has been taking care of the parents for years; the parents then remove the abandoning daughter from the will. Those are wars.

I strongly recommend an attorney, as they can draft will to cover these situations. You love your family very much. Spend the $600 to protect your daughters and their own relationships after your passing.


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Grammarhero

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You need a separate power of attorney as well. If you don’t, you need a probate hearing and court order to do almost anything. It will waste you dozens of hours of headaches if you don’t have a separate power of attorney.


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Grammarhero

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Rosebud, you seriously need an attorney. A will needs to talk about all your assets, liabilities, which liabilities to pay (secured), which liabilities not to pay (unsecured, cc debt, student loans, etc). Having your wife and daughters as beneficiaries on your life insurance or invest forms is not enough. A DIY or legal zoom will do not cover all, difficult, or complicated situations.

In the example above, what if the caretaker daughter arranges a will removing the abandoning daughter? The caretaker takes everything. They go to war in probate court. The abandoning daughter contests the new will saying you were mentally incompetent or under distress. The daughters go to war, and their children (cousins) are kept from each other. They remain estranged for ten years. Then ten years later, they reconcile. The abandoning daughter explains leaving or flight was her way of grieving.

So your daughters and their children had a bad 10-year relationship that could have been prevented from a will or power of attorney, covering most or all situations, prepared by an attorney.


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Grammarhero

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Glad legal zoom changed so deleted my analogy.


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klpca

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I haven't used Legal Zoom so no first hand experience, which is what I realize that you are looking for. I have in my professional capacity, seen the outcomes of families who have had to deal with the dictates of a will. People do and say weird things when they are grieving, and even weirder things when "their" money is on the line.

I see a good will (and living trust for that matter) as a way to do everything that you can do to minimize family issues after you pass. A good attorney will bring up issues that you never considered and prompt you to think about the dynamics of your own family and give you a chance to clearly state your intentions so that family members don't have to argue about it later. Not to mention that there can be legal *and* tax issues to consider. Get your property titled incorrectly and you may wind up owing tax that could have been prevented.

If you have enough assets to need a will, I would think that you have enough assets to pay an attorney to have this done correctly the first time. Just my opinion of course, no offense intended.
 

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About 20 years ago right after I retired I used Legal Zoom to prepare my will. My take on it is if you don't have a complicated estate and/or don't want to do something intricate with your will, Legal Zoom is fine. Back then I think I paid something like $35. IMHO their are two benefits using a lawyer even for a simple will. First, the lawyer will have staff on hand to witness your will. Gathering a bunch of people to witness my Legal Zoom will was a pain. Second, the lawyer will have a copy on file and be able to help your heirs through the probate jungle. Would I use Legal Zoom again? Absolutely...

George
 

Brett

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About 20 years ago right after I retired I used Legal Zoom to prepare my will. My take on it is if you don't have a complicated estate and/or don't want to do something intricate with your will, Legal Zoom is fine. Back then I think I paid something like $35. IMHO their are two benefits using a lawyer even for a simple will. First, the lawyer will have staff on hand to witness your will. Gathering a bunch of people to witness my Legal Zoom will was a pain. Second, the lawyer will have a copy on file and be able to help your heirs through the probate jungle. Would I use Legal Zoom again? Absolutely...

George

same here, I used Nolo about 25 years ago for a DIY will, everything is still working fine ....... (but I'm not dead yet so no final results)
I also have named beneficiaries for my financial assets and considering doing that for real estate
 

rosebud5

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If you have enough assets to need a will, I would think that you have enough assets to pay an attorney to have this done correctly the first time. Just my opinion of course, no offense intended.

Thanks for all the responses. I think the best response is the one above. You add up all the costs for documents; the last will, living will, power of attorney, etc for the both of us on legal Zoom is almost half of what we would pay for an attorney. BTW: I have talked to an attorney and I think I will stick with him.

No offense taken.
 

Patri

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Good choice rosebud5. One of my jobs had a Legal Zoom guy come in to sell his services. He sounded like a timeshare salesman. Scare tactics of when we would need them. Mostly for consumer issues. I am a persistent dog if a company wrongs me, and I do get my way. He promoted that a letter from their attorney would take care of your problems. The monthly fees can't compare to my free.
I googled reviews on them. Not great. Don't know if any of the employees signed up. I was irritated the managers even let him come in. That means they implicitly think the service is good. I don't. I prefer a local lawyer for wills, trusts, etc.
 
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